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The Middle Eastern Feast

Some people say: “Travelling is food for the soul”. I would rather say: “Food is travelling for the soul”.

I recently felt the urge to escape the rainy and grey german weather and seek comfort in the warming taste of middle eastern spices. So i started cooking a small number of delicious dishes inspired by middle eastern cuisine. Firstly I made a creamy hummus with a hint of garlic. The second dish was a sweet, sour and spicy muhammara dip. And the last one was an eggplant stew with lots of spices.

Chickpea Hummus

The ingredients

400g cooked or tinned chickpeas

3 tbs Tahini

1 clove of garlic

6 tbs olive oil

salt & pepper

2 tbs lemon juice

Add everything into a blender and blend until it is smooth and creamy.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and parsley.

Muhammara

The ingredients

4 big red peppers

6 tbs olive oil

1 tsp coriander seeds

3 tbs breadcrumbs

2 tbs ground walnuts

2 tbs pomegranate molasses

2 tbs chopped parsley

salt & pepper

Cut the peppers in halves and remove the seeds. Put them on a baking tray and char the skin under the broiler. Let the peppers cool to room temperature and remove the black skin. Blend the peppers with the olive oil, pomegranate molasses and the coriander seeds until smooth. Mix with the ground walnuts, the parsley and the breadcrumbs. Don’t add the breadcrumbs all at once. Only add as much as you need to get a thick but still creamy dip. Season with pepper and salt.

When serving sprinkle with fresh pomegranate seeds and parsley.

Eggplant Stew

The ingredients

2 eggplants

300g minced lamb (skip this for an all vegan feast)

200g tinned tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

half onion

1 tbs ground cumin

1 tbs ground coriander seeds

1/2 tbs ground cinnamon

olive oil

salt & pepper

Cut the eggplant in small cubes. Fry the minced lamb in a little olive oil until golden brown, then add the finely chopped onion and garlic. Add the spices and eggplant to the meat and fry until you can smell the spices. Put in the tomato and season with salt and pepper. Let everything simmer for 30 minutes. When serving drizzle with a little olive oil and top with some yogurt if you want.